SPOILER ALERT:
This tale includes major spoilers for almost every major superhero title this year, counting “The Batman,” “Black Adam,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “The Boys,” “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special,” “Harley Quinn,” “Ms. Marvel,” Moon Knight,” “Peacemaker,” “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” and “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

Superhero movies and TV shows were as ubiquitous as ever in 2022, but for the excellent time in many years, they didn’t totally dominate. “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” sstationary the box office, while “Stranger Things,” “Wednesday,” “House of the Dragon” and “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” ordered the streaming landscape.

That is a surprise on its own for a genre that has felt nigh invincible for the better part of a decade, and it was far from the only one. Both on and off hide, superheroes brought the drama in 2022. Here, in ascending neat, are the year’s most shocking moments.